JOIN USThe hunter with a heart
We have all grown up watching television programmes of wildlife in the forests with predators like cheetahs, tigers and lions running at breakneck speeds, baring their sharp teeth and claws on an innocent deer or bison grazing lazily. But what the National Geographic and Discovery TV channels did not show us was what happens when a giant tigress, ready to pounce at any moment, has her eyes set on a human. And especially when the prey is Jim Corbett, the famous British wildlife conservationist, lying on the ground with a gun aimed at her and heart beating rapidly.
Burning Bright, by Harnihal Singh Sidhu, brings such adventures of Jim Corbett, a hunter born and raised in the jungles of pre-Independent India, to life. The book takes inspiration from the numerous pages written by Corbett himself, and fills the gaps with Sidhu’s own imagination of what was going through Corbett’s mind during his many escapades. The book runs through Corbett’s life from when he was eight years old to when he took his last breath, with each chapter depicting his adventures and transformation from a hunter to a well-known conservationist.
On the edge
Brought up in the jungles of Kumaon, now in Uttarakhand, Jim was always comfortable sleeping in a tree and recognised the calls of all the animals and birds of the forest, including danger calls. Born in a large family, the Corbetts felt more connected to India than England and offered help to anyone who knocked on their door.
Jim Corbett’s initial hunting lessons were given by his eldest brother Tom, whose set rules he lived by till the end of his life. Tom’s words in the first chapter of never leaving a wounded animal to suffer, reverberates throughout the book where we see Jim ensuring any animal hunted was put to rest without enduring long suffering. Growing up from using a catapult to shoot down small birds to big guns that brought bears and tigers to a halt, the sketching of Jim’s life in every chapter is exciting and keeps the reader on edge.
There are minor issues with continuity in some stories and although some chapters narrate the kill very explicitly, which could make some readers feel queasy, Sidhu describes the adrenaline rush of facing a giant bear or a leopard so well that it makes the reader forget about the blood and gore.
The stories take us through the many occupations of Jim Corbett, but hunting remained a constant, mingling with his daily life. The kindness that he had in his heart for the jungle and its residents, made him a benevolent man in all aspects of his life. Be it a stranger struggling in his business, an “untouchable” who could read and write, or the men who worked under him for years, ‘Corbett Sahib’ always ensured that his people were living better lives, even if it meant having to sacrifice his own earnings, food and health.
A newfound respect
Burning Bright, by Natraj Publishers, sparks a newfound respect for the forest, animals and birds who are living in harmony with nature for ages. There was always a balance maintained between the predators and preys before humans encroached upon their lands.
And through Corbett’s adventures, one can see how the imbalance came into being. Most of his life, he would hunt only to feed his family, village, or his staff when he was working with the railways. But unfortunately, game hunting soon became a sport to many, especially the rich, who mounted the heads of their kill as trophies. This made Jim concerned about the balance in nature, in the future. And soon he restricted his hunting to killing only man-eaters. The jungle law of “every death should be for a purpose”, compelled him to create sanctuaries and national parks to save tigers and other animals from being hunted. He transformed from a hunter shooting animals down with his rifle, to a photographer who spent hours waiting for the right shot of a tigress and her cubs on his camera.
Harnihal Singh Sidhu beautifully captures the magnificence of nature and simplicity of old India, making one want to time travel back to the olden times. And even though hunting may not be everyone’s cup of tea, reading about Jim Corbett’s life as a kind and humble man along with the excitement of facing a deadly animal in the jungle, while sitting in one’s room, could be exactly the escape one needs.